Gun Control

I’m pretty sure that if you are reading this blog, you are pro-gun control, simply because you like seeing those two words together. If you are a gun fanatic and you’re reading anyway, I’m also pretty sure that you are only doing so to find the chink in my armor so you can attack me, because that’s what this “discussion” has devolved to. Either way, I invite you to read on. All I can do is report on how my own attitudes are evolving; nothing I say here will change the mind of the true believer on either side of the coin. Only you can do that. I am certainly NOT an “expert”; only a concerned citizen exercising his right to speak his mind.

Believe me, I don’t take this subject lightly: frankly, there are no easy answers in this debate. In short, I am pro-gun ownership, but I am also pro-gun control. Call it “responsible ownership.” That’s not an oxymoron, is it? Can’t we have both? “Gun control” can mean three things: #1, taking them away or severely limiting their use (far-Left); #2, controlling where you send the bullets (far-Right), and #3, controlling yourself when you are holding a lethal weapon in your hands (middle-majority adults). Would it be an issue if not for all these mass shootings?

What brought this on was a Facebook meme I saw the other day: two guys arguing, first one says “guns are not the problem; people are.” Second guy says “then why would you want the problem to have a gun?”

The absolute, irrefutable truth is that each and every one of us is capable of being “the problem”—having a bad day and wanting to “kill that S.O.B.” (whoever that may be at the moment). Admit it: you carry to potentially kill a bad guy (or at least that’s what you tell us); who makes the judgment of “good” or “bad,” especially in the heat of the moment? Maybe it’s a really good person who just happened to piss you off? Can you honestly say that you would never make a mistake like that? Can I trust that you are responsible and sane enough to not make bad judgements? Hopefully our common sense will step in and keep us from doing something stupid, but who really knows? Have you ever been pushed to the breaking point? While I am pro-ownership, I do not own one myself; why would I want to carry around a potential stick of dynamite?

I won’t waste your valuable time here telling you how much I dislike Donald Trump and want to see him held accountable for his decades of on-going crimes. This is not because I am an “evil Democrat”; it’s because I’m an intelligent adult who’s had plenty of experience with playground bullies and knows one when he sees one. I say this to set up the real point of this blog:

It occurs to me that the typical rabid gun owner is likely to be a rabid Trump supporter as well. I apologize to those of you who do not fit this blanket indictment (ooh, I do love that word!). Seeing how blindly loyal some folks are to this immature, self-absorbed, violence-inciting buffoon makes me a bit nervous.

Remember, “people are the problem” is your mantra. If I’m to fear the person more than the gun, than which person should I fear more: the calm, clear-headed adult who is able to see both sides of an issue and is empathetic to those who think differently from them—or the blindly-loyal sheep who lives for Trump, hates “Libs,” and stands ready to die (and presumably kill) for him?

Being a “reformed Conservative” myself (thank you Donald Trump for waking me up), I now apparently represent the “woke, anti-Trump, evil-Communist Left” (l.o.l.!)—because, you know, you’re either with him or you’re anti-American and against “freedom.” I’m the guy you say you hate. Are you going to live up to your fighting words (are you as tough as you say you are, or are you just a playground bully yourself), or are you going to allow common sense to tell you that I’m just a fellow American, coexisting in the greatest Country in the world?

Most importantly, can I be assured that your idea of “gun control” means “self-control?”